"That makes sense, and we don't need to distract ourselves with the dragon nest. We don't even know if the spell works that way, with a dragon body. So yes, we can keep to the road, and maybe teleport to a far mountaintop or something in the distance to cut off some travel."

“Yes, if things are as dire as your story indicates, then as fascinating as the idea of a dragon sounds then perhaps we should focus on getting to our next destination. Besides, we have the child to think of.”

"Let's load up the carriage and just go. I don't think teleportation with Gentoa is a good idea right now. Not unless we know exactly where we are going."

DM shield:

 8 days pass on the road and supplies have gotten thin. Neventi still provides terse replies when Gash checks in with her, but says the talks have begun in Masa. They are not terribly interesting and she doesn't know how long they will take.

Gathering and hunting supplements the meals but the game and edibles are sporadic as the terrain shifts from marsh to hills to featureless plains. The cold fog that rolls in and settles like a stifling pillow does not help either. The march along the road here is painfully monotonous, more so now with the fog obscuring any view of the countryside. Thus, the party is not fully alert when a lantern swinging in the  late morning fog goes unnoticed until the man is nearly upon them.

He is clearly no threat, riding in his open cart pulled by a mule. A series of clotheslines stretch the length of his cart with dried fish hanging from each line. "Ho there," he says as he pulls to a stop. "Salted carp? Dried sea salmon? I'm out of the fresh stuff, but I've plenty of well-kept food for the weary traveler."

Stones licks his lips and says “what do you have for us friend?”

“How much for the dried salmon?”

"Oh, fish of all kind. I have salted carp, as I said, and dried salmon. I also have pickled herring, pickled pike, pickled perch...a lot of pickled fish, really," he says, looking over his shoulder at his wares. "I have some jerked cod or carp, salted cod, and some sealed jars of clam chowder. I'll wrap you up a day's meal for 7sp or four days for for 2 gp.(Each purchased counts as a day's rations.)

"If you are looking to do some fishing of your own," he says, looking around at the wetlands but seeing little in the way of fishing holes, "I have tackle, which includes a wooden rod, silken line, corkwood bobbers, steel hooks, lead sinkers, velvet lures, and narrow netting all for a shiny gold piece."

He looks at the lot of adventurers before him, seeing the girl in her carriage alone and nods to himself. He leans down and says in a low whisper, "I also have a Pole of Angling for the wealthy explorer looking for an extra tool in his pack. 110 gold."

“I forgot. I’m tapped until we get to a town. Excuse me sir, where is the next town?”

Dog, like he has for everyone (anyone?) else they meet on the road, awkwardly tries to ask him if he has recently come from Masa, and if he has anything with him that came from there, and offers to buy it. 

For the fishmonger he will also offer to buy several days' worth of rations for the party with the party funds (or his own if there is not enough), conferring with Gash.

"Oh, you're less than a day's travel from Hencha, friends," the fishmonger says with a smile. From there, you can take the Fuentarojo River south all the way to Luja."

To Dog, he says, "No, never been to Masa. I guess I could have something that came from there. I honestly wouldn't know. Do you label your things by where they originate? What a peculiar practice." He thinks for a moment, then says, "Although I suppose I know that most of this fish comes from off the coast of Luja and along the Fuentarojo River. But I suppose that isn't exactly what you meant. None of my fish come from Masa or the Masa River or the Gulf of Alcion."

Tock buys a couple of everything that's not pickled.

Stones will buy a four day package. 

Once everyone has changed coins with the fishmonger (you can buy retroactively in your next post if you missed the opportunity), the merchant bids them farewell and sets off along the Long Road in the opposite direction. Not knowing how much further it is to Hencha, the group spends the night in their tents. However, sometime in the early afternoon the party approaches the city.

Hencha is a quaint town, though not exactly a little one. It is situated on a gentle river flowing out of the hills and wetlands, itself nestled in and on a series of rolling hills. It is a picturesque little town, almost sleepy. The fog that has plagued the party for the last week has cleared and the sun shines brightly through the late autumn chill. There are the typical shops here, although the craftsmanship and availability appears to be lower than the last few towns the group has visited. This town appears to thrive on its access to the river and meeting travelers going one way or the other along the Long Road.

(How has Genny been handling the travel and not being with her mother? Dog has been doing his best to help distract her with fun things as he walks briskly  alongside the carriage with her in and out of the carrier, and teaching her number games and word puzzles and bad jokes, and being her playful giant puppy, and talking to her about how the party is trying to get her a long way down the road to her mom, and helping Keyrie show her anything she wants to show her about the natural world around them as the terrain and biomes pass by them.)

Short of resupplying rations and asking of word/news from Masa, and the general war between angels and demons, Dog is happy to pass through town and keep moving. If others want a night in an inn instead of Gash's tiny hut, he won't object strenuously.

Gash brings up, "This town is small, do you suppose they have horses? A town like this probably doesn't have much to offer for our dragon bits but we don't have means of preserving it. The claws should be fine, but I don't know about his breath thingy..."

Tock would look for some people heading the same way they would and will ask them about the road ahead and the fastest way to Masa.

When Gash speaks up about the dragon bits, he smacks his forehead, almost dislodging the headband of intellect. He immediately asks around for an arcanist and armorer.

"The fastest way to Masa is the Long Road," says the town guard, looking at Tock like he's never seen a Kenku before, which is unlikely, considering their tribes are said to roam to the south of Hencha.

Dog and Gash do find themselves at an alchemist, looking over the dragon parts. "I can pay 2500 for the lot of parts," he says. "If you want to try and craft something with the bones or scales, I can break my price down further."

Keyrie doesn't buy any fish. She will look around to see if there is any place with maps, or just ask around and find out as much of the upcoming terrain as possible. Any dangers they might face, or safe places to rest.

“How far to the next town? I want to make sure we have plenty of rations to hold us until then. As for staying or going, I know you all want to get to Masa as soon as possible so I’m fine with hitting the road as soon as we’ve restocked.”